Explore Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Egypt Facts
- Ancient Egypt Timeline
- Hieroglyphics
- Egyptian Gods & Goddesses
- Pharaohs
- Notable People (Cleopatra etc.)
Ah, Ancient Egypt, with its Pharaohs, pyramids, tombs and mummies! The mystics, mysteries, and men have fascinated us to such an extent that the stories of ancient Egypt have survived thousands of years.
It is said that Egypt was one of the greatest civilizations of the past, and the monuments, as well as tombs of their Pharaohs, continue to stand strong today, 4,000 years later!
Join us as we hop in a time machine and venture 4,000 years back discover fascinating facts about Ancient Egypt.
1. Pharaoh comes from a word meaning “great house”.
This describes a palace or a kingdom. Pharaohs were considered to be the supreme leaders of the land and were equivalent to kings or emperors. They ruled both parts of Egypt, upper and lower, and were seen as political as well as religious leaders of the land.
2. Pharaohs wore a crown which had an image of the cobra goddess.
It is believed that only the Pharaoh was allowed to wear the cobra goddess, as she protected him by spitting flames at the enemy!
3. The largest pyramid ever built is The Great Pyramid of Giza.
It was built by Pharaoh Khufu, and is known to be the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
4. The Nile River is the longest river in the world.
It spans over 4,100 miles! It is located in northeast Africa and flows through a number of African countries such as Egypt (of course!), Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Burundi.
5. The River Nile played an important role in shaping the lives and society of Ancient Egypt.
It provided the Ancient Egyptians with food, transportation, and building materials. It would have been hard to imagine life without the River Nile back then!
6. September of each year saw the Nile overflow its banks and flood surrounding areas.
While this might sound like a bad thing, hold your horses, it turned out to be one of the most important events in the life of the ancient Egyptians. The flood brought with it rich black soil that renewed the surrounding farmlands.
7. The ancient Egyptians considered the rich black soil from the floods very valuable.
It was known as the Gift of the Nile. The Egyptians called the Nile ‘Aur’, which means black and comes from, well, the black soil!
8. The ancient Egyptians believed that the floods were caused by the tears of the goddess Isis.
They believed she cried for her dead husband Osiris. The real cause, however, was the heavy rains and melting snow to the south near the source of the Nile.
9. The afterlife was extremely important to the Egyptians.
They believed that by preserving a person’s body, their soul would live on in the afterlife forever. This is why they mummified the dead! Very important people were often placed in a beautifully decorated stone coffin called a sarcophagus.
10. Both Egyptian women and men wore make-up.
The eye-paint was green in colour, made from copper, or black in colour, made from lead. In addition to offering protection from the sun, the Egyptians believed that makeup had magical healing powers.
11. Cats were considered to be a sacred animal by the Ancient Egyptians.
It is believed that most families kept a cat as a pet as they thought it would bring the household good luck
12. The Ancient Egyptians loved playing board games.
A popular game was Senet, which was played for over 2,000 years. The game involved throwing sticks, which is similar to how we throw dice, to see how many squares to move your piece forward on the board.
13. Egypt was and still is home to a wide variety of animals, including cheetahs, crocodiles, cobras and hyenas.
Egypt’s wildlife thrives in 21 protected regions which include deserts, mountains, coastal areas, wetlands and river islands.
14. When it came to upkeep, Pharaohs kept their faces clean shaven.
However, in pictures they’re often depicted with facial hair. This is because they wore fake beards for religious purposes. Even the female, Pharaoh Hatshepsut, wore a fake beard while she ruled.
15. Until the age of six, children didn’t wear any clothing.
Something that would be pretty unusual in today’s times!
16. Ancient Egyptians ate bread that was so rough it caused their teeth to wear away.
It’s believed that sand and grit often entered the flour during milling, which was incredibly damaging to teeth.
17. The Ancient Egyptians were responsible for lots of inventions we still use today.
Including pens, paper, locks, keys and toothpaste.
18. The ancient Egyptians believed in over 2,000 deities.
They had gods for everything, right from dangers to chores. Each one has different responsibilities and needed to be worshipped for balance in life.
19. Once unwrapped the bandages of an ancient Egyptian mummy could stretch for over 1.6km.
This is if they were placed end to end, it was not one continuous piece of bandage.
20. Over the past few thousands of years, many Egyptian mummies have unfortunately been destroyed.
Some were ground to a powder which was used to make magical potions, or used to create ‘mummy brown’ paint. Others were destroyed by treasure hunters.
Ancient Egypt FAQs
What did Ancient Egyptians eat?
Thanks to the River Nile, the Ancient Egyptians had good access to livestock and crops. They ate bread, that was so coarse it ground down their teeth, as well as vegetables such as garlic, green scallions, onions, leeks and more. Meat was considered a more luxury meal, with the richer population indulging in pork, beef and mutton, as well as wild game such as hedgehogs and hippos.
What did Ancient Egyptians Wear?
Thanks to tomb paintings, we can see the Ancient Egyptians often wore wrap-around garments made from cloth, such as kilts, cloaks, shawls and dresses. Men were seen to wear aprons, fastened with a belt around their waist. Wealthier people often adorned their clothes with gems and jewels. Generally speaking, clothing was light in order to keep cool while in the blistering hot desert.
What language did the Ancient Egyptians speak?
There are multiple recognised Ancient Egyptian languages, that evolved over a period of more than 4,000 years. These are divided into Old Egyptian (before 3000 to around 2200 BCE), Middle Egyptian (around 2,200 – 1,600 BCE), Late Egyptian (around 1550 – 700 BCE), Demotic (around 700 BCE- 400 CE) and Coptic (2nd century). This mostly refers to written language, and spoken language was quite different.
What were Ancient Egyptian kings called?
Ancient Egyptian kings were called Pharaohs, and were rulers of both heads of state and the religeous leaders of the population. The word Pharaoh means ‘great house’.
Did Ancient Egyptians wear makeup?
Both men and women wore makeup in Ancient Egypt, with eye makeup being used to protect them from the sun, as well as from the gods Horus and Ra. Pharaohs were clean shaven, but wore fake beards.